In collaboration with the group of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aleš Berlec from Jožef Stefan Institute we studied recombinant lactic acid bacteria that were engineered to bind CC and CXC chemokines by displaying chemokine-binding proteins evasin-1, evasin-3 and evasin-4 on their surface. Chemokines are key signals in the immune system and play an important role as proinflammatory mediators in the pathology of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer, making them an important target for therapy. Evasin-displaying bacteria removed from 15% to 90% of 11 different chemokines from the solution. Evasin-3-displaying L. lactis removed 76% of IL-1ß-induced CXCL8 from the supernatant of Caco-2 epithelial cells and prevented the secretion of CXCL8 from Caco-2 cells in a time-dependent manner when added before induction with IL-1ß. Evasin-displaying lactic acid bacteria have the ability to bind multiple chemokines simultaneously and exert synergistic activity. This innovative treatment approach therefore has the potential for mucosal therapy of inflammatory bowel disease or colorectal cancer.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30650407